At the end of last school year I convinced my teachers that they should pose with their favorite book, and I would turn them into reading celebrities a la the American Library Association's READ campaign. The software used here was purchased from ALA. One of my goals for the middle school Media Arts class I teach, is to turn my students into reading celebrities as well. We use free photo manipulation software called GIMP. Photoshop is too fancy and expensive for us. GIMP does the job admirably.

]]>Wed, 04 Dec 2013 04:33:07 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/using-photographs-to-teach-background-knowledge-for-spider-woman-folktaleFrom a trip taken to the Four Corners area in 2011 as a Teacher-Ranger-Teacher. I now teach a Language Arts class to 5th and 6th graders. Their text book's first "challenge text" this year is about Spider Woman.

]]>Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:18:28 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/scratch-conference-the-dalles-orI recently attended a conference about integrated technology sponsored by TechStart and Google. Specifically, I took a series of three day sessions on Scratch, an introductory computer programming software created by MIT.

Below you'll see one of the projects I programmed using Scratch. To run this program click on the Magic8 ball with your mouse.Be sure you have the latest versions of Flash and Java updated and enabled for your browser.

Session Description:Using integrated technology tools like Wall Wisher and ReadWriteThink's Flip Book, we'll look at strategies for students to engage with informational texts (an emphasis in the Common Core Standards). Textual resources will focus on themes important to the Northwest: salmon, trees, geology, conservation, Pacific Northwest Native Americans, Lewis and Clark, and the Oregon Trail. Booklists, lesson plans, and recommended web tools will be provided.

THIEVES (lesson plan from readwritethink): Create a set of posters, reminding students what parts of the text to focus on, and what questions to ask of the text.

Wall Wisher (website): Create a Wall Wisher site and set up a computer station in your room for students to post their questions about a text you are reading as a class. Direct them to do this quietly, then address questions at the end of a reading.

Flip Book (website): Use the THIEVES components to create a Flip Book which students can create themselves or which you can provide to students for guided reading of informational texts. (See Ms. Gapp for an example to use in your classroom)

Nature Journaling (scroll to links at the bottom of the page): Bring history, science, language arts, and math together using nature journals.

Cross Curricular and Cross Classroom Collaboration : K-5 teachers are better at this than secondary. Avoid teaching subjects in isolation. Partner with other classes on research. ]]>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:25:11 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/collins-55-word-storiesCopy and paste your stories in the comment box in reply to this post. Leave your name and first initial of your last name. It is not necessary to include your e-mail. Spelling and grammar count! ]]>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:24:52 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/timmons-55-word-storiesCopy and paste your stories in the comment box in reply to this post. Leave your name and first initial of your last name. It is not necessary to include your e-mail. Spelling and grammar count! ]]>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:55:08 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit

Reply to the phrase you see at the end of this video: "There's nothing quite like a real book."

]]>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:47:10 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/soliz-55-word-stories-aka-flash-fictionCopy and paste your stories in the comment box in reply to this post. Leave your name and first initial of your last name. It is not necessary to include your e-mail. Spelling and grammar count! ]]>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:55:01 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/55-word-stories-aka-flash-fictionPost your stories in reply to this post. Type your first name and initial of your last name. Not necessary to include your e-mail. Spelling and grammar count! ]]>Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:44:59 GMThttp://www.rangerlibrarian.com/media-blog/information-woods-for-oaslLinks to resources from the Ranger Librarian poster session.Ranger Librarian informational brochure part 1Ranger Librarian informational brochure part 2Teacher Ranger Teacher Brochure from NPSA Park Mad LibCanyon Wonderment brief article published in the OASL Interchangeall documents in pdf